And that’s it for soccer for at least a little while. This was the first year where we had both kids in soccer programs, and we found trying to get both kids to practices and games on weekends a bit hectic. We had a few cancelled games, but we did our best to make it to almost all the games and weeknight practices.

Josh has gotten a bit better, as this was his 4th season playing soccer in this particular league since last year. He’s never been very interested in athletics (neither was I growing up), but I think he’s beginnng to grasp the fundamentals and generate an interest in sports.

Autumn was Lily’s first season of soccer. To be completely frank, with Lily’s personality, we expected her to really shine at soccer. Instead, I witnessed a complete lack of interest. Oh, I know she’s just 3 years old. I’m just saying I thought she’d be running and going for that ball. Nah, most games she either wanted to sit and snack on the sidelines, or just stood on the field twirling around, or talking to her friends. Well, better luck next time. Interestingly enough, she’s been enjoying her ballet dance class much more. Who knew?

I’m a little late with this, but I finally scanned in the team photos.

Fall 2011 - Joshua's soccer team

Fall 2011 - Lily's soccer team

Turkey time, same as the first!

First off, I gotta talk about the great turkey-napping of 2011. We do almost all of our grocery shopping at our local ShopRite, especially after our local SuperFresh closed down. We found out on Sunday that we had acquired enough PricePlus points to qualify for a free turkey. Sweet! I went back on Tuesday to pick it up, and while checking out, the cashier informs me that I’ve already redeemed my free turkey. When? 4:30pm today, while I was at the office. Apparently, according to the cashier, there have been people using other customer numbers and redeeming/stealing the free turkeys. Unbelievable. I don’t know if this is a situation where people are trying various home phone numbers, or it’s an inside job by fraudulent ShopRite employees. More than likely, I’m thinking it’s an inside job. Sad.

In the end, since we were buying a turkey now with our own cold hard cash, I put back the ShopRite brand turkey and went for a Butterball. I didn’t know if it was truly better, but it costs more, and another customer endorsed it. Why be cheap?

Our guests were bringing appetizers and liquor, so we were responsible for the turkey, the sides, and dessert. Nums started cooking up the sides on Friday, and we started the brining process. Now I’ll admit that roasting our first turkey for a large party of our friends intimidated me. I’ve read the horror stories of undercooked or dry turkeys, and I’m not much of a roasting meats kind of guy. Still, my wife’s confidence in turn gave me confidence.

We kept it defrosted in the refrigerator until Friday, then we started the brining process of letting it soak overnight. First, I had to do all the prep work of opening it up, taking out the insides, etc. It went into the covered tub we borrowed from my sister on Thursday with all the brining juices and spices. Then I covered the bin, and put it outside in our backyard to stay cold overnight for 12-16 hours. The bin would obviously not fit in our refrigerator, and the outside overnight temperature would be in the mid-30′s, much like our refrigerator. Saturday afternoon we walked through the rest of turkey prep by watching some step-by-step Food Network video.

Our slowly arrived around 6pm. Unfortunately, we had some last minute cancellations from guests, so we had more food leftover than expected, but the dinner went very well. We actually fit just about everyone around the dining room table, and the turkey and sides were delicious. As a matter of fact, all the appetizers were delicious too.

So all in all, it was a good experience. While it was originally daunting, roasting a turkey wasn’t all that bad.

Ah, I love a four day weekend. Today, we bought our tickets early, and took the kids to see The Muppets, the latest Muppets film, which I believe Disney wants to bring back in a big way. Jason Segel both co-wrote and stars in this film. Along with Segel and your favorite cast of Muppets, the film also stars Amy Adams, Chris Cox, Rashida Jones, and a number of actors in cameos.

The film’s premise is reminiscent of the first three Muppet films — a ruthless business tycoon wants to tear down the now-shuttered Muppet Studios and drill for oil. Segel, Adams, and a new muppet named Walter, discover the plot, and work to reunite the Muppets to save the studio. I’ll admit that I’ve struggled in the past to reconcile my memories of the Muppets when I grew up, and the voices of the Muppets in the post-Jim-Henson world. The voices are still different to my ears, but I’m learning to let it go.

I have to say the movie was pretty good. I liked how the premise acknowledged the existence of the original Muppet Show and the earlier films, with many references to the old programs. Those were the old shows and films that they acted in, but now had all moved on. Furthermore, the world had forgotten them, and they now had to find relevancy in 2011.

The Muppets were fun again, the songs were engaging enough, and everyone had a good time. Success. I hope there will be many more new Muppet films.

The Muppets (2011)

As early as last month, there was much discussion within the family as to who would host Thanksgiving this year. Ultimately, my sister Julie and her husband Robbie agreed to host the holiday dinner, while my wife would bring the desserts, and my parents bringing some appetizer. They were also inviting many of Rob’s cousins.

We brought two pies (farmer’s market), and my wife made flan, cheesecake brownies, a fancy bread pudding (?), and I momentarily forget the last one. My sister roasted the turkey and cooked the sides, and they were all pretty good. My parents hung out with their grandchildren, Rob’s cousins had fun with each other, and it was all nice. I was also glad that we didn’t have to clean up all of the mess! Though I did hep out with the dishes.

One note: we hosting “Friendsgiving” this Saturday, which includes roasting a turkey. My sister gave us some tips on brining a turkey as a good way to keep the turkey moist after all the time in the oven. We also borrowed a few of their items, including the roasting pan and rack. Keeping our fingers crossed for Saturday.

Argh, how frustrating. I got my first (and last, I hope) Newark ticket. I wasn’t driving either. In Newark, there is a light rail service that takes you around various parts of Newark. Generally, I would walk in the mornings, but I’ve found it convenient if I’m running late to catch an evening express train. I used it during my first week when I had a weekly pass. If you have a NJ Transit weekly or monthly pass, it is cross-honored. I was slightly unclear about daily passes however, which was ultimately my undoing today.

I was running late to catch my train this evening, and I was confused by the ticket validation stamp machine. I had asked a Newark police officer patrolling the station yesterday if my daily pass was valid or not, and said yes. Tonight, I wasn’t quite sure, so I had my NJ Transit daily one-way ticket stamped. While I debated getting an additional light rail ticket to be safe, the next train arrived.

You guessed it — I jumped on. Waiting at Penn Station were two officers checking everyone for valid tickets. I stopped and asked one if I was okay with the stamped daily ticket, and he said no. Then we argues about the purpose of the ticket validation machine, the police officer who said it was acceptable fare, etc. In the end, e gave me a summons for failure to pay fare, which comes with a $74 fine.

Ouch.

Friday night, I came home to change my clothes, and get back on the road. I was to meet up with my buddy Doug in Clifton, NJ to see Immortals. This is that stylized action film loosely based on elements of Greek mythology, in the vein of the 2007 film “300.” (which I’ve also seen), but they have no connection with each other. Tarsem Singh directed this film, and here’s an interesting portion of his Wikipedia entry:

Tarsem is a Sikh-American and was born in Jalandhar, India. His father was an aircraft engineer. He attended the Bishop Cotton School, Simla, Hans Raj College, Delhi, and is a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Tarsem began his career directing music videos, including those of “Hold On” by En Vogue, “Sweet Lullaby” by Deep Forest and R.E.M.’s smash hit “Losing My Religion,” the latter of which won Best Video of the Year at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. He has directed dozens of commercials for brands such as Nike and Coca-Cola.^[3] Tarsem’s feature film directorial debut was The Cell (2000), starring Jennifer Lopez. 

With all that background information, let me tell you that I did not enjoy this film. It was a slightly different style from the Zach Snyder 300 film, but I believe they immitated that style hoping to cash in. Unfortunately, I found the story and the characters to be dull and boring. I never found myself invested in any of the characters (including the protagonist Theseus), nor did I find the plot at all interesting. Furthermore, the action itself was either boring or entirely too gruesome to be enjoyable. Oftentimes, I felt that a particular death was made gory, in order to achieve some sort of shock value that would excite 13-year old boys.

It wasn’t interesting. It wasn’t fun.

Immortals (2011)

My first week went well. Some random thoughts:

• The overall team is very friendly and welcoming. It’s not what I’m used to, so this is blowing my mind.
• I like the commute. After 5+ years of driving in stop and go traffic, I enjoy sitting and relaxing on the train for 45 mins on the train. I know NJ Transit often has issues, but so, no issues this week.
• The city of Newark is okay.
• I’m not a morning person by any means, but I haven’t had any issues catching a train and getting to the office before 9am.
• I have access to mostly everything I need right now.
• I haven’t had a lot of free time in the evenings. I have the free time, but between bathing the kisses, laundry, etc, I’m still in bed by 11pm or so. I need my sleep, since I need to be up by 6am.

That’s it. It’s been a good week.

My first day at Prudential was interesting. I got up early and was ready around 6:30am. I made the kids their lunches for the day, then I was off to the Hamilton train station. I was hoping to catch the 7:07 train. It was kinda liberating to not have to worry about waiting around like i used to. Since I didn’t have to wait until 8:30am, I can focus on getting to work early. I was amazed to see the large parking garage was seemingly almost full by 7am — I guess a lot of people are up early. The train left just as my tickets were printing out of the ticket machine, so I hung out in the waiting area for the next 7:19am express train. I like the number of express trains to Newark, so I don’t feel a lot of pressure to catch one particular train.

The ride up to Newark was comfortable and uneventful, and I asked a Newark police officer how to find Broad St. I did the walk in about 10 mins, checked in with Security, and waited for my manager to arrive.

So, funny story — because of a miscommunication between myself, HR, and my new group, they thought I was starting next week. I did want another week of downtime, but I was also pretty excited to start with Pru. I told them I was okay with starting right away, if it was okay with them. To their credit, even though they weren’t expecting me, they had most items or processes in progress at this point. My laptop was ready, my cube (with nameplate) was assigned (but just needed cleaning), my access form had been submitted. Even my ID card was ready by 4pm. My first few days at Citi, they didn’t have anything for me. I remember just eating Cheetos and reading hardcopies of process documentation.

I went to lunch with some of the Domestic Life team, and everyone was very friendly and welcoming. In contrast to my old department, there is a healthy mix of men and women, of all age groups, and did I mention they were very friendly?

I caught a 5:16pm train, and I was eventually home by 6:35pm. It was fantastic. I was home and I had my entire evening to myself.

Great first day. I like my new manager, and I like the new team. I’m looking forward to doing great things here.

Our last day finally arrived. We had wanted to visit the new WTC Memorial downtown his weekend, but ran out of time yesterday. I floated the idea of trying to fit that into our Sunday morning, but we ultimately decided to not rush around. Everyone seemed pretty happy to sit around, eat breakfast in the room, and enjoy each other’s company. Maybe next time.

So today would be a light day. We had a kids birthday party hosted by our friends Neil & Megha — their twins Rohan & Kareena were celebrating their 2nd birthday this month. They live in Manhattan, so the party was being held down in the West Village. I’m glad we were able to aim this whole vacation around Josh’s two days off from school, my interim unemployed period, and the kids birthday party in Manhattan. Not bad, eh?

What we did have to figure out was how to make it to the party without carrying all of our luggage, make it to the party, then catch a reasonable train out of NY Penn Station. We decided to:

1. Check out of the hotel around 12 noon
2. Leave our bags with bell stand
3. take the subway down to the West Village
4. Have fun at the party unencumbered
5. Go back uptown to get our luggage
6. Head back to NY Penn to catch a train around 3:53pm
7. Get home!

We made to the party easily enough, albeit with more walking from the subway station than I anticipated. By the end of the walk, I’m glad we decided against bringing the luggage in tow. Lily would not walk, so we took turns carrying her. A number of guests were there already, and the children present were doing free play. “Free play” lasted a long while, but the people running the show eventually moved on to some singing. We spoke to a few people while the children ran amuck.

Soon, it was time for the kids to eat pizza, blowing out the cake candles, etc. We departed the party a little after 2pm, made our way to the Lex & 53rd St station. Num’s & the kids opted to wait for me to run up and out, get the luggage, and bring it all back to the station. We hustled, and caught the 3:53pm train out of NY Penn. I’m not sure how we caught it, but a little hustle will never serve you wrong.

Now for the monkey wrenches!

The train was packed. Why? Based on all the people carrying beer cans and wearing Jets jerseys, I guess there was a game today over at MetLife Stadium. Rats. Still, it should empty out after Secaucus. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only problem. Somewhere before Princeton Junction, the train crew informed us that there was a disabled train ahead. Oh no.

In order to get passed, the train would sit for a while, the eventually bypass and go straight to Trenton. We would have to get out, and wait at Trenton for another northbound station to take us back up north to Hamilton. Argh. We were tired, but we made the best of the situation and got home an hour later than expected. Oh well, that’s life.

So that was the big trip. It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad (in hindsight) to have listened to my wife about not filling up the itinerary. I wanted to visit the observation deck at 30 Rock, hit the Children’s Museum, and see downtown. However, trying to shoehorn all of these places in would have stressed and tired everyone out, and been ultimately counter productive. This was a good model — a vacation with only a few things to do, with a healthy amount of downtime. I don’t know where we’ll be going next year, but a few low-key weekend trips like this would be nice.

Now I get ready for my fresh start tomorrow.

Central Park

Halfway through our trip, and Saturday was our last full day. After some discussion (there are so many places to go see in NYC), we chilled out in the hotel for a bit in the morning, I gave the kids showers, hit a cafe for lunch, then rode up to Columbus Circle. On the agenda for Saturday was walk through Central Park, Central Park Zoo, then dinner out somewhere. Maybe even Dos Caminos again. How sadly I was mistaken, but that was okay. You’ll soon find out why.

I can understand why New Yorkers come to Central Park. Even in Autumn, it is very pleasant and relaxing to walk around, and the temperature was comfortable. I didn’t have a real plan besides hanging out, but it worked out. We found this area with lots of large rock formations where the kids could play, and a fantastically unique playground. It was built in such a way that three of us pretended it was Tolkien’s Helm’s Deep fortress. We eventually walked around the southern end of the park, then made our way to Central Park Zoo around 3:30pm.

Climbing rocks

Unfortunately, there was a long line at admissions, so that was an unpleasant surprise, especially with only 90 mins before the zoo closed. The line itself looked like it would take about 30 mins to get to the ticket window. Another unpleasant surprise — I was told there was only a “nominal” admission fee, but it would be about $40 for us to get in to see the animals for an hour. The kids were tired and hungry, more than we wanted to spend, and a short window of time to see it. Ultimately, it made more sense to us to do the zoo another day.

We walked out along the southeast corner of the park towards the nearest Au Bon Pain, where we could leverage a gift card that my mother gave us earlier this year. We walked back to the hotel, stopping at a Barnes & Noble on 3rd Ave to read some books, and a popular women’s clothing store so my wife could browse the wares.

Lesh & the kids

We chilled out and got freshened up for a family dinner, until I was surprised to hear a knock and find our friend Lesh knocking on our hotel room door. Surprise! My wife had made plans a couple of week ago for Lesh to meet us and watch the kids, while Nums & I could then go out for a celebratory dinner (vacation, new job, etc.) without worrying about the kids. Where were we going to dinner? Smith & Wollensky – NYC‘s for the first time, then meeting up for drinks with friends Kanishk and Sofi, and now possibly meeting up with Reeba, Sandhya, and others at some club down near 34th St. Neat, and I was very surprised. The kids and Lesh would be staying in to hang out and I would pick up some dinner for the three of them from Dos Caminos.

Dinner @ Smith & Wollensky

Dinner was pretty decent, though Nums didn’t like her steak very much. I was going to behave and stick to a small cut, but this Cajun-flavored rib steak caught my eye. The waiter played coy on the size of the steak, and it was huge when it arrived. Turned out that it was a ginormous 32 oz. steak. I ate only two spoons of each of our sides, as I worked hard to not waste the steak. I think I still prefer Ruth’s Chris overall.

After dinner, we walked over to 2nd Ave to meet K & S at Traffic Bar & Restaurant for drinks. Very fun time, and I’m very happy that all four of us got together finally, as Nums is always so busy with work for all of us to make it ever.

Drinks with Kanishk & Sofi

We eventually said our farewells, and took a lengthy, slow ride down to 33rd St to see the other folks at this club, which turned out to be an Indian party. Now, when I was single, I liked Indian parties, because I wanted to meet attractive Indian women. Unfortunately, they’re always crowded, the women are unfriendly, and the drinks are always expensive. Oh, and there are always way too many guys there in relation to women. Well, things apparently haven’t changed, because it was hot, crowded, and way too many Indian guys dancing around with each other when they weren’t shoving you out of their way when they wanted to get by. I think we stayed about 30 mins, said goodbye to Sandhya, then bid a hasty retreat. I’m glad I haven’t missed anything to be found at the club scene.

Of course, the subways were even slower on the way back, but we eventually made it back. Lesh hung out for a while more, then caught a cab back to her place in Queens. What a long, adventurous, surprising day.